It wasn’t pretty but that will matter to nobody wearing blue and orange.
Nor will it make much difference, at least in the moment, that the Islanders already have severely damaged their playoff hopes throughout the month of January. Friday is just about the reprieve that a win finally brought Lane Lambert’s crew, whose morale has been bruised and battered in a six-game losing streak that ended by a 2-0 score against Detroit at UBS Arena.
Nevertheless, the good feelings will last about as long as it takes for the Islanders to lose again, and the Golden Knights, one of the top teams in the Pacific Division, are coming to Long Island to finish their own back-to-back, so there is a chance that ends up being less than 24 hours.
But the Islanders needed this in a bad way.
It was not the Islanders’ most energetic, nor emphatic, win, but it did fit that the opening goal was scored by Anders Lee. Not only because the Islanders were celebrating John Tonelli, whose No. 27 Lee will be the last Islander player to wear the number, but because the line of Lee, Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri has been their best forward group since Palmieri returned to the lineup and was once again on Friday.
The Islanders have consistently struggled for offense and did so again on Friday as Ilya Sorokin backstopped them to a shutout performance in the victory. But Nelson’s line consistently found itself in scoring positions, able to forecheck and work below the hashes in a way the Islanders have not often done so lately.
At 4:44 of the second period, he hard work paid off. Lee dove to redirect a shot from Nelson, which also touched Palmieri before getting to the Islanders captain. The goal gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead, which held into the third period.
Less than five minutes into the third, the same line struck again as Nelson’s wrist shot from the point floated through traffic and past Magnus Hellberg to make it 2-0. It was the first third period goal the Islanders had scored since Jan. 3 at Vancouver, and the first on home ice in exactly a month — the last being in a 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh on Dec. 27.
It was also the fourth primary assist in three games since returning from injury for Palmieri, who has brought a needed oomph to the Islanders’ top six lately.
From there, it was relatively straightforward to hold the lead against a Detroit team that, on the second end of a back to back, lacked the energy for a sustained push. The defensive structure, which came apart earlier this week in Toronto, held fast. Sorokin was rarely threatened.
On its own, one win doesn’t paper over the many issues plaguing this team. The power play, scoreless again, is on a 3-for-63 run. The playoff picture is still unforgiving, though the Isles did keep the Red Wings from jumping them in the standings with a win. It will take an emphatic and sustained turnaround to keep Friday from quickly becoming meaningless in the long run.
But getting back on track has to start somewhere, and at this point, just getting a win on home ice — something the Islanders had done just once in January — is a weight off this team’s shoulders.
It is quite a stroke of luck that the Islanders exited Friday’s game just four points behind the Penguins for the last wild-card spot — a product of Pittsburgh’s failure to pull away more so than anything the Isles have done. Maybe just maybe, they can feel alright about their chances of eventually getting past the Penguins with another win on Saturday.
